California and anti-innovation are not words you would often see in a sentence together. For years, California has been at the forefront for innovation in technology and automation, including being a leader in the development of drones. Over 100 companies in California are involved with developing the drone ecosystem and hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in the advancement of drone technology in the state. Yet the California State Assembly just took a step to hinder the growth of the drone market which is predicted to bring billions of dollars in economic benefit to the United States.

Governor Jerry Brown is now sitting on Senate Bill 142 which would require drones to fly 350 feet or higher over private property if the operator does not have consent from the property owner. And remember the FAA has capped drone flight at a maximum altitude of 400 feet (proposed 500 feet in the small UAS rule) which gives a very narrow corridor where drones are able to fly to provide the great benefit we all know they can provide. Think about Amazon, Google, Flirtey and the other drone delivery companies..how will this limit their ability to increase customer and end user productivity through rapid and efficient goods delivery by drone?

Senator Hannah Beth-Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) introduced the bill and in a statement said “I believe we can set reasonable limits that allow innovative uses while protecting our private property, privacy and security.” I’ve always been a proponent of reasonable limits and allowing innovation but this bill took a step too far and would eliminate innovation and allowing for the growth of this market.

Despite the arbitrary altitude constraints to fly drones in California, my biggest concern with this bill is it’s failure to actually address the privacy concern that it intended to address. From my perspective, the privacy issue and debate is not about the equipment that is collecting data…it’s about how the data is collected. Drones can capture footage, but so can smartphones, or stationary cameras in cities, or satellites, or cameras with sophisticated lenses and the list goes on and on. There are laws that exist that protect citizens from privacy violations. However, how these devices collect, store and use the data is the issue that has failed to be addressed.

Instead of introducing a bill, in California or any other state, that sets arbitrary altitude restrictions for drones to protect privacy (notice the bill doesn’t distinguish between drones with cameras and drones without), the discussion that needs to take place should be about the data captured by drones and any other device. From a data standpoint, I do not believe our laws have kept up with the advancements in technology, and while I do not purport to provide a solution here, there are ways we can protect citizens privacy through data protections, and not by limiting how and where drones can fly to provide valuable services to humankind.

There has been plenty of buzz about CA SB 142 and many industry experts have provided plenty of commentary so I’ll wrap up my personal evaluation of the bill.

However, I’d like to ask – where were the Californian’s when this bill came to the floor? Where were those 100+ companies who’s businesses will be negatively impacted by this bill? Where were the industry trade groups that help educate lawmakers?

Being a California resident and a former trade association lobbyist, I will take my share of responsibility for not doing more to educate the California State Assembly. But the rest of our community needs to do the same. We simply cannot let this happen again when we have so much at stake for our businesses, for other states looking at drone legislation and for the community as a whole.

It may be too little too late, but there are still ways to get involved. First step is to join the Innovation Movement (founded by CEA) and send an email to Governor Brown urging him to veto the bill. http://www.innovationmovement.com/drones It’s quick and easy to do…I’ve sent my email, now will you?

California – we need to unite, engage industry associations for support and start educating our legislators more aggressively. We must take responsibility for our own industry and enable its success. We must educate together and take the time to protect what we have built.

My son and his cousin started a droning business in Michigan about a year ago. Recently they were asked to drone a festival in our town, and they readily accepted needing the exposure. I have a question…have you ever filmed a festival or in an area with large crowds. How do you launch your drone? Do you cordon off an area or have a launch pad? We’re worried about the thousands of people milling around the area and the danger of the blades of the drone.

Thank you, Laura

P.S. the boys company is insured.

Answer

Hey Laura,

This is a great question, and I’m glad you have safety first in mind! Take the exposure, and give exposure to safe drone flying practices while you’re at it.

I have filmed in large crowds, and it’s tricky! People love to come up to you and talk to you about what you’re doing, and while it’s easy to want to be friendly and have a chat, you also need to focus. For example, I once photographed a crowd with a drone flying over Crissy Broadcast in The Presidio for The San Francisco Chronicle.

Crissy Broadcast event at Crissy Field in San Francisco, Calif. Photo/Sally French

Luckily at this event there weren’t too many people, so I was able to stand away from people in a grassy area to launch, without having to cordon off an area. Most drone injuries happen during takeoff and landing, so it’s important that you don’t do these steps near other people. If your event is going to be wall to wall people, you’ll definitely want to cordon off an area where you can launch.

It’s great that you’ll have what sounds like two people there. One should be piloting with their eyes on the drone the whole time, and one should be the spotter looking out for other things in the sky (or coming at you on the ground too). You may even want a third person to control the drone’s camera, depending on what kind of gear you’re using. The great thing about cordoning off an area is you don’t have to worry about people coming up and asking questions while you’re in flight.

As for flying over crowds, it’s tricky! The FAA recommends not flying over people, but if it’s over public property for non-commercial use, you have a right to. If you have any slightest doubt about your piloting abilities, don’t fly over people. If you are 100% confident, then I think I feel comfortable advising you to go for it.

One of my favorite drone videos ever from when I first started reporting on drones was from The Drone Dudes. They fly all over the crowd, but that’s obviously risky. Use your judgement.

We keep seeing more companies taking to the web to proclaim they are “FAA APPROVED” but what does that actually mean? The problem I see is that while more and more are getting their approval from the FAA, they are failing miserably at complying or not even trying at all to comply with the special conditions of their COA’s (Certificate of Authorization). [Read more…]

Hello! I am so excited to join the Drone Coalition and to share thoughts with this amazing group of industry colleagues.

I look forward to exploring with you the opportunities and challenges of the future of unmanned aircraft systems.

As is so often the case in our country, technology moves quicker than policymaking. This is certainly true for drones. Hobbyists have flown drones for decades, but now that the technology has made vehicles cheaper, efficient and more mobile than ever, demand for drone use is growing rapidly. Drones make farming more efficient, and disaster response more effective. They enhance the safety and efficiency of everything from industrial inspections to precision agriculture, filmmaking to real estate, aerial surveying to newsgathering — and everything in between.

It is in our country’s best interest to have rules in place that foster and promote innovation while protecting the public and winning its trust. But, the policymaking has lagged behind, and the commercial use of drones in our country is still unauthorized without special permission from the FAA.

I look forward to sharing thoughts with our community on policymaking developments in real time as they happen, and to consider thoughtfully the various safety, security and privacy issues along the way.

My background is as a lawyer and a policymaker. In my current role as Global UAS Practice Group Co-Chair at the law firm Hogan Lovells, I counsel companies and higher education institutions with an interest in drones. Previously, I served in the Obama Administration in policymaking roles at the White House and the Department of Justice – most recently, working to help craft policies surrounding the safe integration of drones into our national airspace.

I believe that policymakers must promote innovation, but I also believe that it’s a two way street: Innovators need to work hand in hand with policymakers. Only innovators have the deep understanding of the technology and its capabilities necessary to craft wise rules that will allow innovation to thrive, in a way that builds the public trust.

That’s where this community comes in. What does a safely integrated national airspace look like? What should the rules provide? Let’s discuss. I look forward to an insightful (and fun) conversation.

I’m grateful to be one of the contributing writers on the Drone Coalition blog with such a great group of other contributors! And before I dive right in and get started with content, I just wanted to give a preview of some of the topic areas I plan to cover…but I also encourage you to leave me feedback if there’s information you seek that I can convey via this blog.

Anyone in the drone industry knows that there is a lot of discussion about what’s happening on the regulatory front, with various state legislators, how the general public is misconstruing the drone industry or how they perceive the benefits, the lack of clear end use cases that will continue to drive this technology into new markets and more. Along with the other contributors to this blog, I hope to shed some light on all of these topic areas, but also add some content focused on opportunities and challenges outside the United States.

We all have lots of areas to cover and it will be fun to see how we’re balanced and contradictory in our approaches and how we can make the Drone Coalition a meaningful resource for information, debate and discussion. I look forward to your feedback, so if there’s any area of particular interest, please leave me a comment.

So I’m going to get started on some content and I will see you back here soon!